Many objects have intrinsic value while other objects have value because they provide access to intrinsically valuable objects. For instance, jewelry, coins, automobiles, sensitive business files, and similar objects have intrinsic value. Accordingly, these items generally are secured against theft or misuse either by locking them in vaults or storage cabinets in the case of smaller objects, or by providing them with their own locking and security systems such as, for example, locks and security systems on automobiles. Keys to automobiles, storage cabinets, file rooms, or apartment complexes are examples of objects that have value because they provide access to intrinsically valuable objects.
The collection of keys to automobiles at an automobile dealership have substantial value because of the number of vehicles to which they provide access. Accordingly, such collections of keys have traditionally been either locked up or tracked in some way, not only to prevent theft of vehicles but also to allow sales and maintenance personnel to locate the keys to a vehicle quickly when the vehicle needs to be shown, test driven, or provided with maintenance. Tracking and control of access to these keys is therefore of critical importance to an automobile dealership.
In the past, a variety of systems have been implemented to track and control access to keys to vehicles in an automobile dealership. For example, peg boards have been used to keep track of keys as salespersons, maintenance personnel, and others remove keys for access to vehicles. Generally, sign-out sheets have been employed to log the check-in and check-out of such keys. Obviously, such a manual system of tracking has numerous shortcomings due in large part to the very real potential of human error and forgetfulness in carrying out the sign-in and sign-out procedures.
More recently, automated computer controlled key tracking systems have been implemented for tracking vehicle keys at automobile dealerships and other types of keys such as pass keys to the apartments of apartment complexes. One such system particularly applicable to the present invention and used widely at automobile dealerships is the key tracking system disclosed and claimed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,801,628, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated fully by reference. In this system, referred to herein as the xe2x80x9cKey Trackxe2x80x9d system, keys to a vehicle are attached with a rivet or the like to a thin plastic key tag having a depending tongue. The tongue carries a small button-shaped electronic touch memory device, which stores a unique code. The tongues of the key tags are configured to be insertable in an array of slots formed in a top panel within a storage drawer. A printed circuit backplane is disposed beneath the array of slots and is provided with a plurality of pairs of upstanding metal contacts, each pair of contacts being aligned with a corresponding one of the slots. When the tongue of a key tag is inserted in a selected one of the slots, its touch memory device is engaged by the corresponding pair of contacts. The Key Track system may alternatively include radio frequency or RF tags rather than touch memory devices. In such an embodiment, the codes stored on the tags are communicated to RF sensors on the backplane, eliminating the need for physical contacts.
A computer based controller is electronically coupled through a communications buss such as a data matrix to the contacts or sensors on the backplane and periodically polls each pair of contacts or sensor, preferably several times per second, to determine the presence or absence of a touch memory device or RF tag and thus which slots in the storage drawer contain key tags and which do not. When a slot contains a key tag, the touch memory device of the tag is read to determine its unique code, from which the identity of the particular key on the tag can be determined through a table lookup. In this way, the absence or presence and location within the storage drawer of the key tags and their associated keys can be noted by the controller each time the array of contacts are polled. If a tag present in a slot on a prior polling is absent on a subsequent polling, then the controller notes that the tag and its key have been removed from the storage drawer. Conversely, if a key tag is detected in a previously empty slot, the controller notes that the tag and its key have been replaced in the storage drawer and also notes the location of the slot in which the tag resides. The removal and replacement or xe2x80x9ccheck outxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ccheck inxe2x80x9d of keys at the storage location is therefore continuously monitored.
An access feature of the Key Track system requires an authorized user such a salesperson needing a particular key to enter an ID code into the controller to unlock and access the storage drawer. The controller then informs the user of the location within the drawer of the key tag bearing the key, or, if the key has been checked out by another, so informs the user. When the history of check out and check in of key tags and their keys is combined with other available information, such as the time at which tags are removed and replaced and the identities of the persons who accessed the drawer and times of access, access to the keys in the drawer can be controlled and monitored, detailed tracking logs can be created, and queries can be made of the controller at any time to ascertain which keys are checked out and the identities of individuals who checked them out. This system greatly decreases instances of lost or hoarded keys, reduces the time required to find keys, and generally provides automatic tracking and control of the keys, and thus, to some extent, tracks the vehicles to which the keys provide access.
The Key Track system described above has proven extremely valuable in the tracking and control of keys. However, the tracking information available to the system is limited to the time that each key is checked out, the time it is checked back in, and the identity of the individual who accessed the key. Information about the disposition of the key in the interim between check out and check in, and more importantly the disposition and movements of the vehicle or object to which the key provides access have not been available to the Key Track system. Nevertheless, such information, if available, could be valuable to automobile dealerships for a variety of purposes. For example, such information, when coupled and integrated with already available information from the basic Key Track system, can enable compilation of statistics regarding the average lengths of test drives, which sales personnel take customers for test drives most often, and which test drives results in sales. In a broader sense, the ability to monitor the movement of vehicles accessed by checked out keys can allow dealerships to locate vehicles on a lot simply by issuing a query to the controller, to follow vehicle movements between designated areas or xe2x80x9czonesxe2x80x9d of the lot, to confirm that when a vehicle leaves the lot, its key has been checked out by a person authorized to take the vehicle, and to detect theft by sensing when a vehicle attempts to leave the lot without its key having been properly checked out. In a similar environment, a rental car lot, the ability to monitor the disposition of keys and movement of vehicles can prevent vehicles from leaving the lot without having been properly leased, allows rental vehicles to be located accurately and quickly, and deters theft. In all these situations there is a strong interest in tracking vehicle movements about a lot between the time when the keys to the vehicle are checked out and when they are checked back in and in determining when vehicles leave and when they return to the lot.
Thus, a need exists for a method and apparatus and an enhancement to the basic Key Track system to enable the system to track not only the check out and check in of keys, but also the interim movements of vehicles to which the keys provide access. It is to the provision of such a method and apparatus that the present invention is primarily directed.
Briefly and broadly described, the present invention comprises a system for tracking the movement of objects in a predefined area. The system includes a central computer or microprocessor based controller and a readable tag on each of the objects to be tracked. Preferably, the readable tags are radio frequency (RF) tags, which store unique codes identifying their corresponding objects and transmit their codes when appropriately activated. Readers, which preferably comprise RF sensors or antennas connected to local controller/receivers, are positioned at preselected locations within the predefined area for reading the codes of the readable tags as objects bearing the tags move past the readers. The preselected locations can correspond to transition regions between designated zones of the area within which the objects are to be tracked. Communication links connect the local controllers to the central controller. The central controller is programmed to collect data from the local controllers and to issue instructions to the local controllers for monitoring, tracking, and controlling the movement of objects within the predefined area.
A more specific and preferred embodiment of the invention, and the embodiment that forms the context within which the invention is described herein and that is considered the best mode of practicing the invention, comprises enhancements and improvements to the Key Track system disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,801,628 to adapt the system for use in tracking and controlling the movement of vehicles at an automobile dealership. It should be understood, however, that even though the invention is described in the context of such an embodiment for clarity, many other applications and embodiments, some of which are discussed in more detail below, are possible and all such applications and embodiments should be considered to be within the scope of the invention.
In the preferred embodiment, vehicles at a dealership are each provided with one or more RF tags and the dealership lot is organized into a number of logical zones, such as the service area, fueling area, areas outside lot exits, and the like. Tag readers are located at the transition regions between the zones and each tag reader includes a local controller and one or more antennas or other appropriate sensors, preferably embedded within the pavement at the transition regions. The local controllers are connected through communications links to the central Key Track system controller, which also monitors and controls access to keys to the vehicles as previously described. The communications links can be one of many possible types of data links including, for example, RS232 lines, ethernet links, or parallel or serial communications busses.
As vehicles are moved from one zone of the lot to another, they pass the tag readers at the transition regions, where the RF tags of the vehicles are activated to transmit their unique codes, which are received by the local controllers and conveyed to the central controller. The central controller can thus determine the movement of each vehicle about the lot as well as movement of vehicles off of and onto the lot through the lot exit. This information is combined with information maintained by the Key Track system about the disposition of the keys to each vehicle, such as the identity of the person who checked out the keys, to provide substantially improved and enhanced monitoring and control of vehicle movement. For example, if a vehicle approaches the exit to leave the lot, the central controller is able to determine whether the individual who checked out the keys has authority to remove the vehicle from the lot. If so, a gate can be opened and if not appropriate alarms can be generated. Further, and even more significantly, the system provides automatic day time security against theft without the need for gates or other physical barriers. More specifically, if a vehicle is detected by a reader and its key has not been checked out, then a theft is indicated and appropriate alarms or remedial actions can be taken. In addition to authorizing vehicle movement and providing security, useful data such as the length of test drives, maintenance histories, fuel usage, and the like becomes readily available to the dealership through the present invention and can be used to improve procedures and ultimately provide better service to the customer.
Many other embodiments and implementations of the present invention are possible, both within the context of an automobile dealership and otherwise. For example, the invention can be implemented with advantageous results in an automobile rental lot or any place where vehicles or, indeed, any mobile objects need to be tracked. Placement of two reader antennas in close proximity and/or two RF tags on a vehicle enhances the ability to determine the transition of a vehicle from one zone to another and provides built in system redundancies. If desired, the monitored zones within a parking lot can be as small as one parking space so that the precise location of each vehicle in the lot can be determined.
Other applications and embodiments of the invention include controlling access to and tracking the movement of sensitive or confidential files within a file room, tracking the check out and movement of expensive tools at a work site, the tracking and control of access to evidence in a court""s evidence room, and other applications where tracking the movement of and controlling access to objects is desirable.
Thus, a method and system is now provided that enhances the Key Track system by adding the capability not only to log check out and check in of keys, but also to monitor and collect information about and authorize the movement of vehicles corresponding to the keys. The collected information is transmitted to the Key Track controller where it is combined and strategically integrated with existing information about the disposition of keys to provide valuable reports and to control ingress and egress to the lot or between various zones of the lot. The combined information can be used for other purposes, such as scheduling and tracking maintenance schedules where vehicles naturally move from one zone to the next as part of the maintenance process. In a broader sense, monitoring and control of access to and movement of many types of portable objects is possible with this invention. These and other applications, features, objects, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent upon review of the detailed description set forth below taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures, which are briefly described as follows.